Situation Normal
by Monkeybarrel
Summary: (WIP, Ch. 4 up) Taking a pit-stop was the idea. Not being allowed to leave soon became the reality. The Sanzo-Ikkou meet a roadblock to the west, a remnant from a past they don’t remember.
1. Situation Normal 1

Notes:  I started this a long time ago and then put it down.  I'm trying again.  I know where it's going, but the journey should be interesting.  Feedback is always-always welcome, and thank you.  ^_^

Disclaimer: Minekura Kazuya owns all that is her bishy Saiyuki.

Warnings:  Language.

Situation Normal - Day 1

It was all Gojou's fault.  The kappa knew he had to go to the bathroom, and used it to torment him as they kept driving through the woods.  Sanzo didn't want to stop at all.  "We want to reach the town by nightfall," the monk had stated, giving a sour look to both riders in the back.  "No stopping.  You have to piss- hold it.  You wanna eat- wait.  We're getting there before dark.  I am **not staying outside tonight."**

"Ahhhhh...did poor bouzu have a rough time sleeping last night?" Gojou flicked his ashes off the back of the jeep as they rolled along the road.  "I'll tell ya one thing.  I slept just fine.  Hell, I could go for another re-laxing night under the stars.  How 'bout you, saru."  

Goku was ready with a retort, but Sanzo beat him to the punch.

"I'll tell you what's rough.  Smelling your gassy ass as you fart and snore all night long.  Notice that **no one was near you this morning?  That's because you kept polluting the air.  Enjoy your stars tonight.  They're the closest things you'll sleep next to."**

"Listen you droopy-eyed son of a-"

"Women of the night, douse out those fires!" Sanzo waved his cigarette in the air, "Gojou's a'comin' and he had **beans for dinner."**

Gojou turned in his seat, finger pointing at Sanzo accusingly, "Now, if we're talking about night-time habits, let's talk about yours, monk-boy."

Sanzo eyed Gojou's finger warily, "If you're expecting me to pull that, you got another thing coming."

"Excuse," Hakkai broke the love-fest.  "Does this forest look _funny to you?"_

"What?"  Everyone turned towards him.  

"We just keep going and going.  That farmer we talked to said it would take about three hours to drive through, but it's been about five so far, and we haven't stopped at all."  Hakkai shifted his eyes to the others as he kept driving.

Sanzo sat back and began surveying their surroundings.  They had been driving for a long time, but the scenery hadn't really changed at all since they entered the forest.  Tall pines lined the road, and almost completely blocked their view of the sides.  It was like they were glued together, back to front.  Trying to peer through the branches, all he could see of the forest was darkness.  

"Keep going."  He turned to face the road on coming.  "The end is probably near.  Perhaps it just takes longer to get through than expected."

"Sanzoooooooo..."  

"What?"  The monk kept his back to Goku.

"I _really have to go."_

"I told you.  We're not stopping until we get there."

"But-"  

"Just shut up and hold it.  We'll be out soon."

"But I can't.  I really have to gooooo...."

"Stop thinking about it.  Go to sleep."

"Now there's a good idea, saru.  Sleep.  Dream.  Forget all about the fact that you have a bladder full of water, just sloshing around, ready to pour out, burst through and flow, till the last drops fall."  Gojou licked his lips, giving Sanzo a sideways glance, and then returned to his torture.  

"Ugh...."  Goku twisted his legs up.  "Gojou, shut up!"

"Seriously.  Seriously."  The half-youkai lifted his hands up.  "What helps me out is thinking about things that have nothing to do with water, or streams, or rivers.  No picturing waterfalls, or lakes, or even baths.  Nothing wet.  Nothing to remind you that more than anything, you just want to release yourself.  Feel the warmth come out, and just..." and he leaned forward, breathing this last word like a sigh, dragging it out, "emptyyyyyy..."

"Gojou!"  Goku had scrunched up in a ball, crossing his arms and legs.  He looked up to the monk, who still hadn't turned around.  "Please...Sanzo...can we stop...just a sec...I'm gonna die..."

Sanzo sighed and waved his hand.  Hakkai interpreted the signal quickly and stopped the jeep.  Goku immediately hopped out and then began weaving though the trees.  

"Don't go far!" the monk yelled.  "We're leaving in five minutes!"

"Gotcha!"  Goku called back, his voice already muffled through the trees.

Gojou started to get out, but was stopped by Sanzo who was holding his gun steadily at the half-youkai's head.

"What the fuck?" Gojou tried to slide by the monk, but Sanzo remained unmoved, his gun still pointing straight at him.  

"I'd like to see you put all your recommendations to the test." he stated, cocking the gun.  Then turning to Hakkai, he raised an eyebrow, "Did I ever tell you the time I fought off a whole gang of youkai in a bathhouse?"

Hakkai just shook his head.  He didn't like where this was going.

"Ambushed me.  Wanted the whole, "eat the Sanzo, be the Sanzo" bullshit.  Stupid as hell, but real resilient.  Starting jumping into the baths, knives out.  Water went **everywhere."**

"You asshole."  Gojou moved to the far side of the jeep.

"Dripping off the walls, the ceilings.  Youkai sliding all over the place.  And me, I'm just sitting there in the bath, feeling the warm waves just lap up against me."

Gojou turned away, looking more and more uncomfortable.

"But I still had my sponge, see.  So slowly I squeeze it out," and using one hand, he mimicked the motion, squeezing the air, "letting the water just fall and hit the tiles-"

"If you excuse me," Hakkai stepped out of the jeep.  "I'll be right back."  

"Five minutes!"  Sanzo called out after him.

"Understood."  Hakkai turned his head and nodded before he disappeared amongst the trees.

"Hey, what the- why can't I go?"  Gojou started to get up.

"Sit down." Sanzo nodded towards him.  "I haven't finished yet."

"Bastard."

"Soak in it."

Gojou looked out to the sides, to the trees, to the sky, anything to ignore his own screaming need as the monk faced him, gun still pointing, and continued to relate his battle.

"And then, I turned on the taps..."

-----  

With a content sigh, Goku turned away from the trees and began heading back.  Gojou was right.  Nothing did feel better than just...emptyyyyyyyy....  He savored that last word, and then laughing, he jogged forward.  "For once, I feel better with nothing in me."  But a second later, he felt the familiar pangs that seem to follow him throughout the day.  His stomach was grumbling.  "Damn."  He slowed to a walk.  "Spoke too soon.  Wonder if Sanzo will have anything to eat...or maybe..."  He turned to look around, but nothing around him screamed, "Eat me!"  No berries, nuts, or even a tasty-looking pine cone.  Just trees, everywhere he turned.  He realized then that for going only twenty feet off the road, it was taking a long time to get back.  

"Sanzo!"  He called out, and then cupping his hands, "Hakkai!!"  He turned and called again, "Ero-gappa!"  Nothing.  After his last call died down, all he heard was the wind bristling through the trees, and his own breathing, which to his surprise, had suddenly quickened.    

"This isn't good." He turned in a small circle, noticing that he was now completely surrounded.  "This is **not good."  Repeating the statement didn't make him feel any better though.  He cupped his hands to his mouth again.**

"Sanzo!  Hakkai!  Gojou!  Jippu!  Anyonnnnnneeee!"  He drew out the last word, hoping the longer it lasted in the air, the better chance someone would respond.  He perked his ears up, but received no answer.  Turning again, he scratched his head, "What's going 

on-"  

It was then that he saw the wall.  

------

Sanzo tapped his gun on the dashboard, hitting a random pattern of sounds that almost sounded familiar, but not quite.  He was alone, having let Gojou dart out into the woods after the half-youkai threatened to drop his pants and piss all over his seat.  

"Five minutes!"  He yelled, but Gojou was already gone.  He sat, listening as the other's crashing sounds diminished and then all he could hear was the wind rustling through the trees.  Gazing absently at the forest that lined the road, he silently agreed with what Hakkai had said earlier.  Everything did look the same.  Every tree was like an exact match to the others- in shape, size, and squinting closely, in the way that the branches stretched out.  It was eerie, and not at all natural.  Neither was the quiet that seemed to fill the air.  There were no sounds of birds or animals.  Nor, he noted, were they any sounds of his companions.  It had definitely been more than five minutes for Goku, but the monkey was no where to be seen.  

"Bakazaru," he grumbled, changing positions in his seat.  He suddenly realized he had to go too, but he wasn't leaving until someone came back.  He closed his eyes, and sitting there with his head resting against his seat, he could hear the distant cracking of branches.  "Idiots" he muttered to himself.  Sanzo let out a sigh and leaning back, tried to forget his own throbbing bladder.    

-----

Goku stared at the wall for a second, turned to look around, and then stared at it again.  Everything else was still the same.  Same trees, same ground, but now this wall...  Slowly, he stepped around some trees so he could get a closer look.     

But he didn't know what to think about what he was looking at.  There was no foliage around the wall, just bare ground.  It wasn't that big, and he counted as he walked around it, about 10 paces long each way, two in width.  Reaching up, he could just touch the top, and he felt the smooth stone beneath his fingers.  It was probably taller than Gojou but not by much.  An idea popped in his head, and he tried pushing the wall with all his strength, but it didn't budge.  It was solid, and definitely stuck.  But what was it doing there, and where did it come from in the first place?  "And where," Goku thought aloud, "is everyone else?"

But all those questions made his head hurt, especially thinking about how mad Sanzo was probably right then since he was supposed to be back about some five minutes ago.  

"Well, Wall," Goku tapped it with his fingers. "Can't stay and chat.  I gotta find me a road."  He turned and paused, staring out in the woods, which he noticed, had gotten a shade darker, and listened.  No sounds.  He could only hear himself, his footfalls, his voice, his breathing.  He switched modes, and closing his eyes, started sniffing the air, trying to pick anything up, and finally, he found something- a bare trace of cigarette smoke.  

"High Lites."   Goku smiled, "That's Gojou's brand."  His fist playfully pounded the wall.  "Home free."  He dashed out, nose first, trying to hold the trace that would at the very least, lead to Gojou.  He slowed down and closed his eyes again and concentrated, and the scent seemed to grow stronger.  He opened his eyes and saw that the trees were thinning out ahead.  With one last leap, he jumped out of the thicket, arms in the air.

"I'm back!"  

But there was no one there to welcome him.  Well, no one but the wall.  

-----

Hakkai felt at a loss.  He had been wandering for some time, but every tree looked the same.  He didn't really understand how he could have gotten lost when he only walked about fifteen or so paces from the jeep.  He even remembered that he could still hear Sanzo telling Gojou about his bathhouse brawl, and Gojou finally screaming that if the monk didn't let him leave, that he would just go right there.  He smiled, remembering the noise the other had made as he dashed through the woods, cursing the whole way, followed by Sanzo yelling "Five minutes!"  But then, everything just seemed to stop, and he couldn't hear anything beyond the wind in the trees.  Having finished, he turned and walked back, but after going about twenty-five paces, and then five more, he knew that something was definitely off.  

He had tried calling out, but there were no answers.  There were no sounds at all, besides his own walking.  Scanning the scenery, he began digging through his pockets, finally pulling out a handkerchief.  With a hard pull to the side, he tore off a piece and tied it to a low hanging branch of one of the trees.  Then slowly he began to make his way further through the forest.  

-----

"Bright idea, Gojou.  Climb a tree.  See what's going on."  

He cursed under his breath as he made his way through the trees, rubbing his sore backside as he walked.  Not finding any suitable climbing tree, he opted for just one that looked like it might hold his weight, but all he ended up with was a ton of scratches and a bruised ass.  Before he fell, he caught a glimpse of the top of the forest canopy, but all he could see were endless tree tops.  And the memory of that sight, plus the situation that led him to climb that fucking tree in the first place made him curse more as he wandered.  Where the fuck was he?  And where was everyone else?  He had been pissed at the monk, but he hadn't gone that far off the road…

"If he drove off without me..." but he shook his head at that theory.  That wasn't Sanzo's style, not to mention he couldn't see Hakkai leaving anyone behind. 

"Hakkai..." Gojou had seen the small cloth tie on one of the trees.  It was because of that which had spurred him to become Gojou the Squirrel.  See where he was.  See where they might be.             

Thinking about the others, he started getting a twinge in the pit of his stomach.  Maybe something had happened to them.  He pushed that quickly out of his mind.  What could have happened in two minutes and wouldn't he have heard something, anything?  The fact was he hadn't heard anything since he'd left to take a leak.  Bouzu got his "Five minutes!" out and he thought he heard Hakkai laughing in the distance, but then...nothing.  No sounds of fighting, or Jippu driving off.  Nothing.  

By why leave a sign if nothing is wrong?  He brushed his hand through his hair out of frustration.  He didn't know what they had stepped in, but he didn't like the smell of things so far.  

"Looks like I went over your five minutes, Bouzu."  Gojou snorted and kept moving on.  He barely made ten feet before he hit a wall.  Literally.  

-----

Goku leaned against the wall, holding his chest, and out of breath from running.  Five times he had run into the woods, and five times he hit a wall.  He went in what he thought were different directions, but no matter where he started from, he ended up back here.  He thought at first he had hit a different wall, but his own footprints littered the ground, tossing that idea out.  He shook his head, finally catching his breath, and slid down the wall to sit on the ground.  Somehow he was going in a circle, but he didn't know how it was happening.  

"Geeeeeeez..." his voice cracked.  "I'm sooooooooooo hungry..." He felt hungry enough to start gnawing on branches, but he had done that once, and had come away with a few splinters, and a bruised head from Sanzo hitting him with the fan when he found Goku biting on twigs.  

Sanzo…  

Goku raised his eyes to the sky, thinking of the monk.  Where was he?  Where was everyone?  Why didn't they hear his calls?  And what was up with this wall?  He turned from where he was sitting and stared at it again.  There was nothing special about it.  Just smooth stone.  No writing, no symbols.  Nothing to give it any distinctive note.  He searched around the wall, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.  Same trees.  Same ground, same...his eyes traveled over the footprints that were scattered everywhere, marks of his previous runs around the wall, but there was something different this time.  

He squinted, peering closer, touching one of the new prints with his finger.  They were real all right. 

And, judging from the size, it was Hakkai who had made them.  

-----

"Gokuuuuuuu!"  Hakkai called again.  "Goku, I'm here!  Come out!  Everything's alright!  It's me!"  But still no answer.  He walked around the wall again, pausing to listen, but nothing.  He looked down on the ground.  Goku's prints were everywhere.  Around the clearing, the wall, coming in all directions.

"He was running." Hakkai moved slowly from print to print, noticing the distances between and the scuffed ground.  "What would make Goku run?  Or rather, who?"  He didn't like that thinking at all.  He was tempted to leave the clearing and go look, but the idea that Goku might come back kept him in place.  

His voice was dry from calling out, and he went to his side to grab his canteen, only to remember that he had left it in Jippu, wherever Jippu was.  He sighed, and tried swallowing his dryness away.  It offered very temporary relief.  Looking at Goku's prints again, images of the boy running in fear crossed his mind.  What would cause Goku to run, and if something is around that's menacing enough to frighten "I'll kick yer ass!" Goku, then why wasn't there any sign of that?  No other prints were here.  Nothing large or lumbering or...he shook his head.  Not since he left the road had anything made sense.  

He placed his hand on the wall, its stone cool to the touch.  He could wait here, or he could go out and look.  Maybe find running Goku, or maybe find what he's running from. He sighed.  It seemed that this waiting and seeing would lead to few answers.  If there was something out there, he was going to find it.  

Bracing himself, hand poised at his side if he needed a quick burst of ki energy, Hakkai turned, and picking one direction that Goku had left the clearing in, walked into the darkness of the forest.  

-----

Gojou lightly tapped his cigarette on the wall's edge, the ashes falling to the ground.  After surveying the scene, he didn't know what to think.  He leaned his head against the wall and breathed out the smoke.  

After finding the wall and then all the prints around it, he went to light a cigarette, but he found his own hand shaking.  After a few drags, it stopped, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little freaked out by it all.  

What he couldn't tell was if Goku and Hakkai were together.  Goku's running feet differ completely in mood to Hakkai's slow walking tracks.  The thing was that both headed out in the same direction.  Gojou turned his head to where the two sets of tracks left the clearing.  

"Where the fuck are you guys?"       

And where was bouzu?  Had he left them all?  Was this some kind of joke on the kappa?  

He shook his head.  No way.  That would take too much thinking for the saru, and Hakkai...Hakkai didn't think that way...

Still...

Suddenly he got one of those inside warning signs.  He grimaced.  I can't believe I have to go again…

Maybe it was the fall, or the fact it seemed like he was on the left side of the moon.   

But whatever it is, he thought as he made his way out of the clearing, I ain't breakin' water in front of that wall, that's for damn sure.

Gojou couldn't explain it, but feeling the distance between him and the wall gave him more relief than thinking that somewhere wandering around, were Goku and Hakkai.

-----

The first time Hakkai had found the wall, he had noticed Goku's tracks.  Then he had left in search of...whatever was out there, Goku, Gojou, something out there besides him.  The only thing he ran into was another wall.  But it wasn't "another" wall, because the second time he hit it, he noticed his own tracks.  He left in another direction but the same thing happened again moments later.  He could barely go 15 feet without spilling out into the clearing.  Grabbing a stick from the edge of the open space, he marked a circle all around the wall itself.  Then placing the stick by the wall, he picked a new direction and left.  By his thinking, less than a minute had passed before he hit the wall again.

Something was definitely different though.  

The circle was partly scuffed by feet.  He recognized the prints easily enough.

"Gojou..." he shook his head.  But how...

Then he noticed the stick.  

It was laying about ten paces from where he had placed it.  

His hand went to his head.  How was this happening?  How could this be?  How could they be here without him seeing?  How could they do this without him hearing them move?  Why didn't they hear him?  He looked around.  Everything that he saw screamed that he wasn't alone, that the others were with him, but then again there was no one around, no sounds, no anything.

It was like the forest was haunted.

And suddenly, he wondered if he was the ghost.

^^ tbc-


	2. Situation Normal 2

Disclaimer- Not mine

Warnings- language

Situation Normal - 2

Goku rested his head on the wall again.  Evening was coming, and twilight's shadows were painting the clearing in dark shades of blue and violet.  

"I'm going crazy," he mumbled.  "Is this what crazy feels like?  'Cause it feels like how I always feel…just hungry."  He hugged his stomach, and it responded by crying back to him.

"I hear ya.  I hear ya."  He punched his torso lightly.  "I have nuthin' for ya."  

He closed his eyes and tried to go over everything that had happened thus far, puzzling it out.  It made his brain hurt, but what else did he have to do?  It was better than thinking about food.

First the wall.  Well, first I went to pee, than got lost.  But I didn't get lost.  I went one way and went straight back so that means the **others** got lost somehow.  Well…then…**someone got lost, and then the wall.  And the wall again.  And again.  And then Hakkai's footprints.  And then Gojou's, and then tripping on that stick…How did that get there?  And who put it back?  I had thrown it away...**

He hadn't touched the stick again.  Not after it appeared back where he first tripped over it.  

"And what's up with all the cigarette stuff?"  He felt the ground with his hands.  Bringing his fingers to his mouth, he tasted ash.

He sighed.  He was tired, and the coming night was already cooling the air.  Even though Gojou was teasing earlier about wanting to sleep out underneath the stars, Goku knew that the kappa had really been with Sanzo.  None of them had wanted to sleep outside tonight.  He sighed again.  Like there was any choice now.

Eyes closed, he listened to the forest.  But like the rest of the day, there were no sounds, just quiet and wind and…then somewhere off to his left, he did hear something, like crunching, like someone was walking in the forest.  Could it be…

Then a far more distinctive sound reached his ears.

"If I see one more fucking wall, I'm going to- OW!  FUCK!  WHO PUT THIS STICK HERE?"           

Eyes shot open then.  Goku sprang to his feet.

"Gojou!" he yelled, looking around, but there was nothing.  No sign at all.  But he was right there.  He'd heard him.  

"Gojou!"  He tried again, but no answer.  

"Stay there!" he called, his voice faltering.  "I'll-  I'll come to you!"  And without looking back, he darted into the forest.  Suddenly twilight had turned to night, and everything around him went dark, but he still ran, arms out, shoving branches aside.  He was completely blind.  What moon there had been the night before was now gone.  But he kept running, and his voice, which to his surprise, sounded so desperate and small to his own ears, kept calling out.

"Gojou!  I'm coming!  I'm sorry!  Stay there!  I'm coming!"  The branches scratched at his face, at his arms and legs, but he didn't slow down.  He had to find him.  He was there.  He wasn't crazy.  He had heard him.  Gojou, where are you?  Don't go-

"Don't go!"  He called out, his voice straining as he ran, but he pushed himself further, faster.  He was there.  He was-

Then Goku struck something hard, and he was thrown back.  For a few seconds, his vision was scattered with stars, but then his eyes met only an inky blackness.  He moved his hand in front of his face.  He could see the bare outlines of it, but not much beyond that.  He wasn't blind.  He sighed.  There's just no light.  He crawled forward, his whole body aching and felt ahead.  What had he hit?  

His fingers fell upon an all too familiar object.  The wall.  He had been running away, but he was back here, and he had run right into it.  

His hand went to his face.  Damn, his head hurt.  His fingers felt something wet at his nose.  Putting them to his mouth, he grimaced at the bitter taste.  Great.  He could picture Gojou's remark at this.  Way to go, saru.  Way to get beat up by a wall.  

Thinking of Gojou, and of what he had been running towards, the frustration and the loss that had been building up all day spilled out.

"Gojou!"

"Hakkai!"

Goku took a breath and closed his eyes.  The next call came out slow and pained, but he tried in his heart to reach the sky with it.

"Sanzoooooooooooooo!"

-----

Sanzo's eyes shot open.  

"What the- OW!"  He tried to rise, but his head hit something hard.  Dazed, both from sleep and the pain, one hand shot up to feel the air, and grasped something hard and round and....Sanzo grimaced.  He had hit the steering wheel.  

He rose again.  This time more slowly.  Everything was black, but the steering wheel to his right and the leather squeaking beneath him meant he was still in the jeep.  He had fallen asleep.  Cursing, he felt around.  He couldn't find his gun.    

"Hey!" he called.  "Turn on your lights!"

The dragon mewed once before his headlights flashed on.  

The revolver lay on the seat next to him.  He picked it up and moved to slip it back into his robe, but switched halfway.  Instead, he just held it.  Grabbing the door with his other hand, he opened it and stepped out onto the ground.  His body ached from being cramped up all day.  He slowly walked around the jeep, shielding his eyes from the light and looked about.  Besides the five or so feet in front of the jeep, they were surrounded by complete darkness.  He could make out the edges of the trees, but they melted into black.  

He leaned against the jeep and finally slipped the gun back into his sleeve.  Reaching around, he pulled out his cigarettes.  

"It's fucking cold." he muttered as he tried to steady his hand that held his lighter.  In a second he had lit the stick, and afterwards he puffed away in silence.  Some minutes passed, and Jiipu mewed again.

"I know."  Sanzo shook his head.  "There's nothing we can do now.  We go in there," he motioned to the forest, "and we'd be just as fucked.  Best thing to do now is wait till dawn.  Then we'll go in and kick some ass."

He stared at the darkness.  It was so quiet.  

Fuck.  He had told them five minutes.  What the hell happened?  

He tried to think back to the day.  The endless driving, the forest, Goku had to piss, Gojou being an ass.  Hakkai left too.  He had been waiting, and then...he didn't remember after that.  He must have just dropped off.  But that had been mid-afternoon and now, by the light, it seemed like the middle of the night.  

He shifted his eyes to the forest.  He remembered now what he had wanted to do before he fell asleep.  

He took a few steps forward and stopped.  Grabbing his lighter from where he'd placed it on the jeep's hood, he clicked it open and sparked it.  Holding it up, he moved over to the back of the jeep, and cautiously walked a few steps towards the woods.  Stopping there, he loosened his jeans and let go of what he had been holding for what must have been hours.  

Although facing another direction, he never took his eyes from the jeep.  Zipping up, he walked back.

"Try to keep your lights on as long as you can."  

Jiipu just mewed a reply.

"If you're tired then-"

Then there's nothing we can do.  Not till morning.  Not till there's real light out.  

He sat back down in the front seat and glared out at the forest.  He sat there, just watching, going from his second and then third cigarette.  He shook the pack.  He had enough for awhile.  His thoughts flicked to Gojou.  The kappa had a full pack that morning, but he knew how fast Gojou went through those.  He could imagine that the other was probably struggling right now, wherever he was.

When his head started to lull back on its own, he extinguished his cigarette.  If sleep came, it came.  It would be better to do that than just sit here in the dark.  Besides, if something were going to jump out, it would have done so by now.  

As he drifted off, Jiipu's lights still glowing in the front, a thought buzzed in the back of his head, low but steady.

Something had woken him up.  What had it been?

Then slipping further away, a voice inside answered the buzz.

It was Goku.  Goku had been calling, and he had been calling his name.

Then his mind joined the darkness that surrounded him.  

------

Hakkai fished deeper into his pockets in hopes of finding something to build up the fire.  The forest floor seemed almost strangely bare, and branches that he had broken off were doing all right but they weren't as dry as he wished.  He emptied everything he had on him in front of the fire's dim light.  His lighter (the one that Gojou always borrowed when his ran out), some money…  

He fingered the bills.  He could burn these.  They weren't any use here.  Another moment and he stuck them back into his pocket.  Maybe later.

He threw in some old receipts.  (Sanzo won't miss that bar tab...)  

He looked back on the ground.  What was left were some crumpled tissues, his half torn handkerchief, some chalk sticks, and a pencil.  He fingered the chalk.  He had been teaching Goku to improve his writing.  His small writing tablet was in his bag in the jeep.  

He threw the tissues into the fire, and it brightened a little.  The stick he had been experimenting with earlier (and had moved twice on its own he noted) he was now using to stir the embers with.  Tiny flecks of light sprayed about and disappeared in the air.  A thin trail of smoke, barely visible by the low light, snaked its way up towards the tops of the trees.  In the back of his mind he hoped that the fire, although dim, would provide both a little warmth from the night's chill as well as a small beacon, just in case.  

He went to put everything back into his pockets when an idea struck him.  He placed a chalk stick by the wall where he was sitting.  Once light came, he would write a message out.  The others weren't here now, but they had been at one time.  If he leaves the clearing, and they return, at least he can give them a message to stay in one place.

He sighed and looked around.  The moon had been half full the night before, but tonight there was no sign of anything in the sky.  Just a deep, endless black.  Like during the day, the forest was eerily quiet.  Even the cracking of the fire seemed muted somehow.

Stirring the embers one more time, he leaned back against the wall, and gazed at the fire.  His thoughts returned to that morning, before they had set out.  Gojou had been lying earlier when he said he had slept well the night before.  An upset stomach kept him up half the night, and this morning, he was barely awake on his feet.  He caught the half-youkai trying to light a toothpick in his mouth.  Hakkai had handed him his cigarettes, and Gojou just looked from the pack to his lighter, and finally removed the toothpick and flicked it away.  

"Thanks."  Gojou tore open the pack, pulling one stick out.    

"You're welcome."  Hakkai sat down and began clearing the rest of the camp.

"…Hakkai?"  Gojou had lit his cigarette, but continued to click his lighter open and shut.

"Yes?"

"You know what our life is?  Just one big fuckin' SNAFU."  Open close open close.  

"Snafu?"

"Situation normal."  Open.  "All fucked up."  Close.  "That's us."  

"…I see."  

"Bus is leaving NOW so stop farting around!"  Sanzo's voice carried over from the road.  The monk hadn't slept well that night either.  He had kept moving around the camp and resettling down, only to move minutes later.  

Gojou stuffed his cigarettes and lighter into his pocket.  "You see?"  He nodded towards the jeep.  "SNAFU Central.  That's us."  Then walking passed the trees, Hakkai heard him call over, "Alright, baldy, keep yer shorts on!"

He remembered just shaking his head and following back to the road.  Now he looked at the fire slowly dying down and thought of the day that had followed- of the woods, the wall, and all the signs that showed that he wasn't alone, but he was.

"Is this what a SNAFU is, Gojou?" he thought aloud.  

Maybe so.  But he was at a loss on how to make this situation "normal" again.  Best thing to do, he gathered was to resume searching in the morning.  They were out there.  He could feel it.

And tomorrow, he'd try to find them.  

------

"Like I said."  Gojou nodded to the woods. "Fucking SNAFU central.  That's us."  

He was tempted to eat his cigs, he was so hungry.  He kept shaking the pack, hoping that maybe if the sticks hit each other enough, they would spontaneously create some more.  

Four left.  Well, one was in his mouth, so three.  He had blown through the pack before he had even noticed. 

He leaned his head against the wall and breathed out.  He could taste the smoke coming out, but could see nothing in the dark except the tiny glow at the end of the cigarette.  It was the only light there was, and it was nearing its end.  His hand reached again towards the pack next to him, but he tried to hold back.  He was going to have to hold out as long as he could, just in case…     

His thoughts traveled to that day, but he didn't want to think about it.  

Where the fuck am I?  

He didn't want to think about how thirsty he was.

Where the fuck is everyone else?    

Or how cold it was.

What the fuck is going on?

Or the tracks, the stick, let alone the wall.

"And why is it so FUCKING quiet!" he yelled facing the sky.  The second it was out though, it was gone.  No echo.  No sign that he had said anything at all.  Just the wind.

"Well, ya know what, mister?"  He shook his finger at the woods.  "You can be all quiet and shit, but not me.  Not this kappa.  I feel like YELLING!"  His fist pounded the wall behind him.  "HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?"  

But if the forest didn't like it, it didn't say anything.  

Gojou snorted, dragging his hand through his hair.  You're going crazy.  You're losing it.  You're talking to trees.

He looked down at his other hand and at the burning stub between his fingers.  He bowed his head and felt the earth as he pressed the cigarette into the ground.  Now it was completely dark, dark and quiet-

Dark and quiet and all alone-

"Fuck this."  The battle was lost.  He grabbed the pack and shook out another stick.  Down to two now.  Another second and it was him and the small spark again.  Now it was just mostly dark and quiet and alone…but he could mess with that too.  Two out of three won't be too bad, right?   

"Hey," He nodded his head to the dark.  "Know any songs?"  He sat there, smoking and listening.    

"No?  No songs?"  He smiled.  "Well, I know some songs."  And then raising an eyebrow.  "I know some real niiiiiiiiiiice songs.  Ya wanna hear/" He paused again for a moment, and then took the forest's silence as approval.  

"Don't tell yer mom I told you these though.  She won't like'em."  

And then drumming his hand on the ground, Gojou leaned back and started to sing.

And for awhile, the quiet didn't seem so dark.  

------

Curled up against the wall, Goku tried to not think about his stomach or the chill that seemed to fill it.  He rubbed his nose.  It still hurt, but the bleeding had stopped.  

Would tomorrow be the same?  Or is this just a dream.  When I wake up, will I just be in the jeep, or in camp, or (and he liked this thought the best) in some inn with breakfast waiting just downstairs?  

"If this is a dream," he rasped, his voice still sore from yelling earlier, "maybe...maybe if I go to sleep now, I'll wake up.  And everything will be back to the way it was."  That seemed to fit.  It made sense that if he slept while awake, he'd dream.  So if he slept while dreaming, he'd wake up.  A voice in his head, the voice that always sounded like Sanzo, stung his brain, like he was hitting him with the fan from the inside.  "Bakazaru.  Don't be dense!"

He grimaced and tried to remember what Sanzo had said about dreams.  Goku had nightmares before and often would try to explain them to the monk, sometimes in the middle of the night.  Like the last time it happened, just a few nights back.    

Sanzo tried to throw something at him, his fan, a pillow, anything in reach.  "Out!  It can wait till morning!"

"I can't!"  He balled his fists up.  "I won't remember it.  I know it now!  And it's..." He shook his head.  He had lost his words.  Confusing.  Scary.  Just...not right.  

Sanzo covered his eyes with his hand. "Fuckin' A."  His other hand motioned towards him, and Goku bounded forward, making to jump on the bed, but Sanzo had grabbed his collar first.

"If you have to do this now," he hissed, "then you have to be quiet."  His head nodded towards Hakkai's bed across the room.  Goku looked over.  He knew Hakkai was awake.  He had been since he came in, but he shrugged and sat down, this time more carefully.  He waited while Sanzo leaned back, and dug around, pulling out his cigarettes.

"Are you going to tell me or not?"  He clicked open his lighter.

Goku nodded and then slowly began recalling his dream.  They had been in a desert, but then a village, but then a swamp.  Everywhere they went though, the ground kept falling out, and in the end, they had all sank into mud and couldn't get out.  

"I moved, and I just kept sinking.  And I called but I couldn't reach you or Hakkai or Gojou.  I kept kicking, but I couldn't move except really, really slow, and I saw," he paused, his finger drawing circles on the sheets.  "I saw everyone go down, but I couldn't move.  I just kept kicking and...and that's when I woke up."  He didn't mention that he'd fallen out of the bed, waking Gojou up.  

"It's just a dream.  It doesn't mean anything."  Sanzo sighed.  "No one's sinking.  The only mud around here is up there."  He poked Goku's head.  

"Still...I couldn't do anything."  

"It's your dream.  You can do anything you want."  

"But I couldn't move. I tried-"

"Bakazaru, it's all in your head.  You want to move.  You move.  You want to wake up.  You wake up.  Just like that."  Sanzo snapped his fingers.  

"Really?  Is that what you do?"

Sanzo didn't say anything for a moment.  He took a drag, and looked away. "I don't dream."  

"Oh..." Goku scratched his head.  Maybe you couldn't dream and be a monk...

"Is that it?"  Sanzo returned his gaze to the boy.  

"Yeah..." Goku nodded slowly.  "That's all I remember."  

"Good.  Now get the hell out of here."  He waved towards the door.  

"Right…Thanks, Sanzo." He flashed a smile, smaller than his usual wide grin, got down from the bed, and walked over to the door.  He was halfway out when Sanzo's voice stopped him.  

"Goku."  

"Eh?"  His head turned back.

"Always remember that you control things.  It's your head.  I know you don't use it, but try to remember that next time."

"Ah...Gotcha."  His face brightened.  "G'night!"

"Out!"  

He had gone back to his room, thinking aloud, "It's my head.  I can control it.  My head.  I can change things.  I can do it…"

"But can I get out of this?" he whispered, and curled up as much as he could to block out the cold.

"Maybe I can just...dream awake." He sighed, closing his eyes. Worth a shot though.  Better than what's going on now.  Better than running.  Better than yelling to no one.  "Then I'll tell this to Sanzo, and maybe he'll yell at me, but..."

But at least he'd be there.  

And thinking of what'd he say when he'd wake up, Goku started to drift off.  And as he sank deeper into sleep, he imagined he heard Gojou singing one of his dirty bar songs, and the soft crackle of Hakkai's cooking fire.  It felt nice and familiar.  Just like before, just like before he had fallen into this nightmare. 

^^ tbc


	3. Situation Normal 3

Disclaimer- Not mine

Warnings- language

Notes- My apologies for the wait. Thanks to everyone for their reviews. Feedback is always-always appreciated.  
----------

**  
Situation Normal - 3**

Sanzo glared at the forest. He felt like shooting something.

Morning had finally come, but still no sign of the others.

"Fuckin' A." He pulled out his revolver and looked back towards Jiippu who was still parked in the middle of the road. "I'll be right back. Then we're out of here."

Jiippu cried out a low mew in response. A moment later, and the jeep and the road were out of his sight.

Sanzo pushed passed one tree and then another. The forest was just as dense as it had appeared, but he didn't give a shit about the trees, or how and why they grew the way they did. He was out for only one thing, or rather, only three things.

And when I get my hands on them, they're going to wish they held it in.

He continued to press forward. It felt like the trees were almost moving to block his way. Stepping over roots and pushing passed limbs, he cursed nature and everything about it.

"Next tree I hit is going to get a bullet in its-" Sanzo stopped as he suddenly spilled out into an open space.

He narrowed his eyes. In front of him lay what looked like the remains of a party, with a fire pit, footprints, and a whole hell of a lot of cigarette butts. And among it all, standing in the middle, was a wall.

-------

The dream hadn't ended. Even though he woke up with the sun on his cheeks and a trace memory of Gojou yelling from somewhere far off, everything else was still the same. His eyes opened, and he found himself curled up by the wall, and very alone.

Stretching, Goku stood up, his joints setting off little cracks as he moved.

"Geez, I'm sooooooooo hungry..."

Nothing had changed. The clearing, the trees, the wall, the fire...

Goku blinked, and the sight before him slowly registered. What the-

Near the wall, where he had slept, there was a small fire pit. A few stones encircled it. He bent down, feeling the ashes with his fingers. They were soft and cool to the touch.

It was Hakkai's. He knew it. Hakkai always arranged them like this. But where, and when, and how and-

He gripped his head with his hands. Why couldn't he just wake up already? Why-why-why-why? He finally fell back on his heels, rocking slowly, and tried to think.

They're here somewhere. I need to find them. I need to wake up. I need to-

Get out.

Sanzo's words from before slipped slowly into his thoughts

_Always remember that you control things. It's your head. I know you don't use it, but try to remember that next time._

He pounded the wall with his fists. "I'm remembering, but nothing's different!" His forehead leaned against the wall, and he felt his diadem scrape across the surface. "Sanzo...why can't I wake up?"

Still sitting, he looked up at the sky. What would Sanzo do now?

"He'd probably yell at me...call me an idiot..." He answered his own internal question aloud.

But _then_ what would he do?

"He'd say something like..." He squinted, thinking, "'Enough fucking around!' and then..."

And then...

I don't know after then...

Goku stood up and looked around. Maybe if he started the way Sanzo did, what Sanzo would do next would come to him too.

"Enough fucking around!" He waited, but nothing popped into his head. Did he say it right?

_Always remember that you control things. It's your head. _

It's my head. My dream.

"If this is in my head, I can change things the way **I **want, right?" He paused, but no answer came. He decided to take the forest's silence as affirmation.

"Okay then." He pounded the wall once more. "Enough fucking around!" Already he felt better. He could do this- definitely.

…He just had to think of how.

-------

Gojou moved around the clearing frantically on his hands and knees. Where the fuck was it? He had it last night. He had two left. Now only one was in the pack. Did it fall out? What the fuck?

He tried to ignore the fire pit. He had woken up to find it, a perfect Hakkai set-up, just right there, laid out at his feet. He had yelled for what felt like hours, going back and forth, but no response. He didn't know how Hakkai could have made it right under his nose without him knowing. Or a better question, why? Not knowing what else to do, and so pissed because Sanzo's sutra made more sense than what was going on, he had kicked the pit, spreading ashes everywhere.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK! He wanted to scream, but he had done that already, and now his throat croaked out his curses. He was almost prepared to suck on grass, it was so dry.

And now. One left. But he knew- **knew** he had gone to bed with two. Where the fuck was it?

He pounded the wall, his anger pouring out. Where is everyone?

"That's it." His voice came out slow and raspy. "No more Mr. Nice Gojou."

With one hand, he pulled out his scythe and brought it forward. "I'm going to find you. And I'm going to kick your ass. And I'm going to smoke. And I'm going to drink. And I'm going to-" He didn't know what else he was going to do. He didn't know how he was going to do all other things, but damn, he was going to do it. "Ya hear! Gojou's a'comin'!"

A voice in the back of his head, the one that sounded like Sanzo, spoke up then. "And he had beans for dinner."

"Fuck you, Bouzu." He walked straight into the forest. "I'll deal with you later. **Once** I find you."

------

Sanzo took one more turn around the clearing, sizing everything up in his mind. He didn't bother calling out. He could feel nothing in the area, no youki at all. He was all alone, but he knew he wasn't. The monk glanced over to the wall in the middle. It gave off its own energy levels, low but steady and completely unfamiliar. It had some kind of power though, and, he thought grimly, that power probably has everything to do with what's going on.

His eyes darted from one side to the other. "I know you're here. You all are."

I can't see you. I can't feel you. And I can't hear you.

But I know you're here.

It wasn't just the prints, and the fire, and the cigarettes. He could sense it.

A voice in his head, one that sounded just like Gojou, retorted back, "Is that some fancy-schmancy Sanzo shit going on?"

He wanted to yell at the Gojou voice. Tell him to shut up. Tell him that he didn't know why he could sense them, but he just could. Just as he could sense that something was seriously wrong. They were all trapped. He realized this when he turned to find the jeep, and all he could see were endless rows of trees.

His senses also told him that this wasn't the same kind of trap as when they were in the desert, and that youkai had tried to eat him.

This was a game. And they were losing.

"Well, enough fucking around here." He brushed off the ground and sat down.

He was going to do something that he hated doing, but he'd rather do this than lose.

Because he hated losing.

He was going to meditate.

------

Walking in circles did nothing. He still couldn't figure out what to do. Then turning to the wall, Goku noticed that there was something else different than from the day before.

He bent down, picking it up.

It was one of Hakkai's chalk sticks.

Goku smiled, fingering it lightly in his hand. He wasn't as good at using this as he was at his nyoibou, but it was worth a shot.

He rested the chalk on the wall, and for a second, he thought the surface of the rock almost shivered beneath his touch. He blinked, but then everything was the same again. He pressed his other hand against it. The wall still felt cool and definitely solid. Finally, after another minute, he shrugged.

"What do you write to a wall?" he whispered aloud. He tapped the chalk against the surface while he thought. He stopped suddenly as that simple motion reminded him of the day before, when Hakkai had taken time to help with Goku's writing. He rested his forehead on the wall's surface and scrunched his eyes up, remembering.

Hakkai had pulled out the chalk and a small board to write on from his bag. They had stopped for lunch and both he and Goku were on the ground, leaning against the jeep. Gojou had sauntered over, still picking his teeth.

"You always got that stuff in there?" Gojou motioned his foot towards the chalkboard.

"Of course." Hakkai smiled up at him. "Why? Do you want a lesson too?"

"I don't think you can teach what I wanna know."

"You would be surprised."

Gojou looked down at Hakkai's winking smile. He shook his head and slid down on the other side of Goku, who in turn, was staring at the blank board. Hakkai held the chalk in front of him. "Shall we start?"

Goku's eyes turned from the board to him. "What do I write?"

Hakkai opened his mouth, but Gojou had already taken the chalk from his hand and the board from Goku. "Go easy, Saru. Like, your name." He started to write, drawing his strokes hard and thick. "Ba-Ka-Zaru." He held it out in front of them. "Not too shabby, eh?"

"Hey! That's not my name!" Goku made a grab for the board, but Hakkai's longer arm reached it first.

"You forgot some strokes, Gojou." Hakkai tapped the chalk on the board. "Shall I pull out another one of these for you to practice on?"

"Ha! Who's the baka now?" Goku dug his elbow into Gojou's side.

"Whatever." Gojou shrugged and leaned against the jeep, looking towards the woods.

Goku turned back to Hakkai who was wiping the slate clean with a handkerchief. He handed it back to Goku, and then reaching over him, tapped Gojou on the shoulder. "You can try smoking it, but I don't think it will taste very good."

Gojou turned, giving him a what-the-fuck look, and then noticed he was still holding the chalk, but between his fingers, like a cigarette. He held it out, and Goku quickly snatched it back.

Once settled down again, Goku stared at the blank board. "So what do I write?"

"Well, Gojou did have a good idea. Start with something easy." Hakkai patted his shoulder. "Start with something you know."

"You won't have much to write then."

"Shaddup, Gojou!" Goku yelled out and then stopped, blinking. He raised his head from the wall. The memories of yesterday were already fading away. Had he fallen asleep in his own dream? He glanced at his hand that rested on the wall, still holding the chalk.

"Something I know..." he whispered aloud.

Gripping the chalk in his hand, he started to write what he had first written during their lesson.

_Goku___

-----

At the sound of a shout, Hakkai jumped up with a start. He blinked, suddenly very awake. It was morning. He was still in the clearing, and still alone. His hands went to his head, one holding his eye glass while the other massaged his temple. Something had woken him up...something…sounded like Goku, Goku yelling something…about Gojou....

He stood, cracking his back as he looked around. He didn't remember when he'd finally fallen asleep, but he felt stiff from leaning against the wall all night. He shielded his eyes at the sun that streamed through the trees above. What sky that he could see through the small openings between the leaves was cloudless.

"Nice weather today, isn't it?" he spoke aloud. The irony was a bitter pill. On another day, this scene might seem serene- a quiet forest, clear sky, but he felt nothing, but cold. The fire he had made the night before now lay scattered about, the ashes streaking the ground. In his hand he held something he found beside him when he'd woken up. It was one of Gojou's cigarettes.

He tried again to leave the clearing, but like the day before, found himself back after a minute or so of walking. He frowned surveying the scene again. He had searched for any youki energy, but felt nothing, nothing beyond him. Whoever was behind this was using power he wasn't familiar with. He didn't feel anything- negative or positive- just the wind, and the sun, all the semblances of normal.

…But this was far from normal.

He felt around in his pockets. There was still the plan that he came up with the night before. At the very least he could try to leave a message for everyone that seemed to be slipping by him without him seeing. His hands searched one pocket and then another and then another in his shirt. Where was it?

Yesterday he had a chalk stick, and he could have sworn that he had left it out, but there was no sign of it when he woke. But it wasn't on him either, but he knew he'd had it…

Maybe it was on the ground, and he had just somehow missed it? He turned back and faced the wall.

And found that while his back was turned, someone had written something there first.

------

_Goku___

He stared at it for a second and then continued.

_is__ here _

Goku had barely finished the last "e" in here when suddenly, the wall started to write back.

**_What is Goku?_**

He jumped back, fist out in a defense move. "Huh? What the-"

That was it. Right under what he wrote, the sunken letters appeared, slowly, and silently. He felt them with his fingertips. They were real all right.

"In dreams, walls can talk...I guess..."

He bit his lip. Was this something he could still take control of? Then furrowing his brow, he raised the chalk again. If the wall's gonna ask, he might as well answer.

_Im__ Goku___

Again, just as he finished, the wall's letters appeared, this time a beat faster.

**_Who is Goku?_**

He sighed. Didn't he just answer that question?

_Me _

And then below that, he wrote again.

_Im__ Goku_

The wall waited a moment and than responded.

**_Why are you here, Goku?_**

He scratched his head at this. He really didn't know **why** he was here. Just that he was, and he was stuck. He thought about it for a minute.

_Because I had to pee and now I cant leave _

**_Why?_**

_Because I try to go but I come back here_

**_But why are you here, Goku?_**

He licked his lips. How far back did the wall mean? Why they came this route? Why they entered the forest? Why they stopped? He scratched his head with one hand, and started to write with the other.

_Because _

He paused, still thinking. Finally, he gave the answer that he always gave when he thought really hard about why he did anything.

_Because Sanzo is here.__ Im with him_

_And Hakkai and Gojou and_

He paused again, tapping his fingers on the wall.

_thats__ it_

He waited. The wall didn't respond immediately. Goku wondered if it somehow had gone away, or at least, the thing that made it write. But then, a moment later-

**_Why are they here? _**

He sighed. This was going to take awhile. "You think if I'm dreaming, my dream wall would know this already," he mumbled aloud as he began to write back.

_Some gods told us to_

-----

Although Hakkai wasn't with him, he followed Goku's conversation line by line, voicing softly the his responses, than whoever was with him. He recognized Goku's writing immediately. The other set was unfamiliar. It wasn't Gojou's jagged writing. Plus, Goku's seemed to be in chalk (so that's where it went...) and the other...the other was somehow engraved in the wall itself. Some kind of magic or...Hakkai shook his head. Nothing seemed surprising anymore. It was all like some twisted never-ending dream.

"We're going west...why west...because the gods told us to...why...there's something in the west...what...a guy we have to fight...why...because he's going to do bad stuff...why are you fighting him..." Hakkai followed in fascination as each set of words appeared. He fingered the other writer's response, the stone was cool, but the letters themselves were warm.

Where was Goku? How was he doing this, and how come he couldn't see him, and-

And then another thought struck him.

Was Goku **in** the wall?

Hakkai stepped back, his fists clenching. Over the past day and night, he had tried everything he could think of to comprehend this situation. Reason, logic, calling out, searching, signaling, everything and anything, but there was one thing he hadn't done yet, and it seemed like the only option left, especially if Goku was somehow entangled in it.

"I'm sorry, but I think I am going to have to destroy you." He spoke to the wall. "I don't know why I didn't see it before, or maybe I couldn't, but now..." Now more than ever he saw that whatever was causing this, that wall must be at the root of it.

He closed his eyes, focusing his ki. How much would it take to destroy it? If Goku was truly trapped in it, it would be better to open it up somehow. He silently debated with himself, his hand opening up as he felt it become warmer from the increasing energy. Then another voice entered his thoughts.

"It's not a bad idea, but it's not going to work." Sanzo stated simply.

-----

****

**_Where do you come from?_**

Goku paused. His face screwed up for a second as he digested this last question. He brought his hand up and answered, his hand moving slowly across.

_I dont remember_

**_Why?_**

_Dont__ know. I just dont._

The wall took a second to respond. Goku wondered at that moment if it could tell he wasn't being completely honest. He kind of remembered, but only the mountain and then meeting Sanzo. It was hard to think about it, back to then, to the dark, just him alone, and somehow writing about it was hard too. Then the wall wrote again.

**_I do not remember either. _**

Goku eyes widened. The entire time the wall has only asked questions. This was the first time it actually _said_ something. "I guess in dreams, walls have memories." He started to write again.

_What do you remember?_

A long moment passed. Goku chewed his lip. Did he say something wrong? Was the wall…well…mad? He looked around, but still nothing. Everything else was the same. He turned back, and what he saw made him stumble back a few paces.

The wall was glowing, a faint blue glow on all sides. The words the wall had written glowed the same blue. In the back of his mind, he heard his own voice.

It's kinda pretty…not like the sun…but still bright…

His hand wavered over the surface, inches from the glow. He waited another second and gently touched the letters of the wall's last sentence. For a moment, nothing happened. He simply felt the cool warmth the wall was radiating. Then right underneath where his hand lay, more letters appeared. They burned with a hot white light as they flashed across the surface.

**_I remember sky._**

And then the whole wall glowed the same white light, and Goku watched in fascination as the light left the wall and started up his own arm. It felt strange, like he was watching someone else, like someone else's hand, then arm, then shoulder turn all white.

Then everything became white, and the warmth engulfed him, and he remembered nothing.

--------

-tbc


	4. Situation Normal 4

Disclaimer: Minekura Kazuya owns all that is her Saiyuki

Warning: Language, some violence

Notes: ...A long pause in updating. To say the least. I have no good excuse. Feedback is always appreciated though, and thank you for reading up to this point.

**------  
**

**  
Situation Normal – 4**

Hakkai's eyes shot open, his ki forgotten. Sanzo? Sanzo is here? He turned but saw that nothing was any different, except that the writing on the wall had increased.

He felt his head. Was this another trick? He closed his eyes again, trying to regain his focus, and then like a slow steady stream, Sanzo's words entered his thoughts again.

"Hakkai...Hakkai...if you can hear me...don't open your eyes...keep them closed and whatever you hear...just keep them closed..."

"Sanzo?" His voice faltered.

"I'm here. Don't open your eyes."

"Why?"

"It's the only way we can remain in contact. Listen."

And Hakkai stood there, silent in the clearing, eyes closed, listening.

And he could hear...the forest...a bird calling in the distance...and after another minute, he heard soft muttering to his left. It was Goku, talking while he was writing. "...I don't understand."

"And I don't know if I can explain it." Sanzo's voice was steady. "Imagine my surprise when I sit down and meditate, and suddenly, I can hear you all talking to yourselves. Gojou's off his rocker, out there running around in the woods, and from what I can gather from the sounds, is stabbing trees."

"Oh my...And Goku?"

"Goku's another thing altogether. Where I've finally made contact with you. He's made contact with something else. And that something else is evidently running this circus."

"But then how do we stop it?"

Hakkai could almost hear Sanzo shrug. "You can try your ki on it, but I've already tried shooting it with no effect."

"When?"

"Once I finally got a clearer picture of what was going on. I might as well have thrown a fucking rock at it, little good it did. After that, I came back, sat here, and just waited, and tried to gain contact with one of you."

"I'm sorry-"

"Save it. We have to get the others."

Hakkai paused. "But how? Should we trying waiting?"

"I don't think we can afford to. Not at this rate. Gojou's not the only one riding the edge."

"We can't see each other though. We can't touch-"

"Wait." Hakkai paused again at Sanzo's order.

Sanzo, still sitting, began tapping the ground. "We can't **touch** each other. We can't **see** each other. But we can see what we do. Your fire. Gojou's cigarettes. Goku with the wall. We all can see that."

"So, objects we can see."

"Better. Objects we can **feel**. And pass. Quick. Give me something."

"How-" Hakkai turned. Sanzo sounded like he was talking behind him.

"I think I'm behind you. Roll something, anything towards this direction. If what we think is correct, I should see it once it's out of your hands."

Hakkai fished around and found some coins in his pocket. "Okay, I'm rolling a coin over. Towards you." He crouched down and tossed it gently over to where Sanzo seemed to be. He waited but heard nothing. "Sanzo?"

After a few beats, "I got it. I had to break contact to find it."

Hakkai sighed. "So we can touch objects from each other, but I don't know how that will help us. If I threw a coin at Gojou, it would probably get his attention-"

"If you could hit him with your eyes closed. You were off a few feet there."

"Right, if I could hit him at all. But that doesn't solve our problem. He would have to close his eyes-"

"And clear his brain enough to listen. And that's the hard part. Getting them to not just close their eyes, but really listen. I was meditating, and that's how I found it. You must have been focusing your ki, and so I was able to contact you."

Hakkai nodded, and then, remembering that Sanzo wouldn't be able to hear it, voiced his thoughts, "And it looks like Goku is fully involved, and you said Gojou is..."

"Fucking nuts. Keeps mumbling about missing a cigarette, and is lumbering about like an elephant with his scythe. It's almost better that we don't see him." Hakkai heard some rustling. "Ah, dammit," Sanzo muttered. "I left my pack in the jeep."

"Cigarette?" Hakkai, eyes still closed, searched in his pockets until he felt the stick. "I have one here. I found it this morning."

Sanzo was silent for a moment. "...That's it then. When he comes back around, leave it on the ground. Write a message with it. That's probably the best way to reach that kappa."

"Understood. Shall I write it on the wall?"

"No." Sanzo said firmly. "Stay away from the wall. We'll have to save that for later. Write anywhere else, but not the wall."

"I guess the ground will do." Hakkai started to move and then stopped. "I am...I'm going to be breaking contact. I'll be right back."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Hakkai opened his eyes and blinked. The sun was very bright, and focusing his vision, he looked again at the empty clearing.

But not empty. They were all there, together. He involuntarily shivered at the thought. How long would they have gone on, trapped here?

He placed the cigarette on the ground near the center of the clearing in front of the wall and grabbing a stick from the side, drew a small circle around it. Then, slowly and carefully, he wrote out a message in the dirt in front of it.

**Gojou, Close your eyes**

Hakkai paused and then added.

**And count to ten, slowly. And listen. - Hakkai **

He stepped back and closed his eyes again. After a few moments, the forest sounds returned.

"Sanzo?"

"I'm here." There was a pause. "He's coming back."

Hakkai listened intently and after a moment, heard the crashing sounds as Gojou made his way through the trees. He definitely sounded...strained.

----

"Let's go to the WEST, he says!"

Well, fuck the West! Fuck the east too! Fuck it all! And fuck these damn fucking trees!

He moved through the forest, scythe out and ahead. One more forward slice and he was past the trees and back in the clearing. His breath felt ragged in his chest, but he kept moving and swinging.

"Save the fucking world, he says!"

Well, fuck that! Fuck the monk! And fuck his world!

"Well, Bouzu, I'll tell you what. YOU can take YOUR world, and shove it up YOUR as--"

Gojou stopped, his scythe held frozen in mid-air above the ground. He stayed there for a second, not moving, as his mind registered first- there's a cigarette on the ground, and second- there's a message next to it, and finally- if he stared at it long enough, he could read it.

----

"Well, fuck me." Gojou's voice had dropped down to a whisper.

"Not bloody likely," Sanzo muttered. "I'm too busy with my world up my as-"

"Shhhhh..." Hakkai stepped towards where Gojou had spoken. "I think he's found it."

There was another pause and Gojou spoke again, his voice low. Hakkai strained to pick up a few words. "...and count to ten...slowly....listen...Hakkai..."

"Hakkai! Are you there! Answer me!" Gojou's voice rang out through the clearing. Hakkai had to bite his lip. He knew calling out was futile, but it hurt to just listen.

"Fine! I'll play your game! See? I closed my eyes. Now, what was it you wanted? Ten? That's pretty steep. How about five? You know how much I like to use my fingers, and only one hand free now since I got my cig back. Five, okay? Well, fuck it. How about three?"

"For fuck's sake, just keep your fucking eyes closed and listen to us!" Hakkai flinched under Sanzo's yell.

"Now, you listen here, Bouzu." Gojou's voice rose. "I don't know who the hell you think you are to be telling me to shut up. Where have **you** been since yesterday, huh? Tell me that? Sitting on your white ass somewhere drinking all the beer that's left. I PAID FOR SOME OF THAT BEER."

"Gojou-" Hakkai wished he could see him. Intervening was easier in person. He moved towards where he thought Gojou stood.

"This isn't about your fucking beer, you stupid kappa!" Sanzo abandoned all his coolness. "If you just **listened** you'd figure that part out!"

"Listen to what? There's **nothing** here to listen too. All that's here is me, and now my one cigarette, and this fucking wall!"

"Idiot! That's the point. Now just-"

Hakkai heard it, the clanking of the chains. Gojou was unwinding his scythe. He rushed forward. "Gojou, wait, listen! It's us. Just stop and-" His words were cut off as he felt a sudden splitting pain in his shoulder. As Gojou's scythe sank in deeper, Hakkai's eyes shot open and his left arm automatically went up to shield himself, but he saw nothing in front of him. He gripped his bleeding shoulder and sank to his knees. Except for his own pained breathing, the clearing was silent, and he was alone.

-----

Gojou blinked his eyes open as he felt his scythe sink into...something. He stared at his weapon as it appeared to hang in mid-air. He pulled it, stepping back, and it became unstuck. He peered closely at the blade's edge and saw it drip red. He stared at it in horror.

"What the-" He turned. Nothing. Alone. He was alone. But he had not been. Sanzo had been there, and Hakkai-

His hand touched the blade, and he felt the blood on his fingers. "Hakkai..." Hakkai's voice had seemed the closest, but how-

Leaning on the scythe for support, he sank slowly to the ground. His hand felt the dirt beneath him, and not knowing what else to do, he beat the ground. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" He ran his fingers through his hair and glanced around wildly. "I heard you! I heard you! Where the fuck are you? Hakkai! Bouzu!" His gaze fell on the words that were written on the ground, hard to read now that he had scattered the dirt, but still there.

Gojou, close your eyes.

And count to ten. And listen- Hakkai.

He breathed in and out, and let the words and their meaning sink in. Still gripping on to his scythe, he closed his eyes and started to count. At one, he heard nothing but his breath. Four, a bird off to the left, high up. Six, he heard- "Hakkai!"

Silence for a moment, and then, "Yes. I'm here."

"Bouzu?"

"Right here." Gojou didn't turn at Sanzo's voice behind him.

Gojou let out a ragged sigh. "Hakkai, did I..."

"I'm all right, Gojou. It wasn't too deep. Besides," From the sound of his voice, Gojou could easily picture Hakkai's sad smile, "better me than Sanzo."

"He already healed himself." Sanzo answered Gojou's question before he asked. "But I think that's a mistake we can't make again." He heard the monk give a low humorless laugh. "At least now we know that even though we can't see each other, we can still hurt each other."

There was only silence then.

"Gojou...?" Hakkai faltered.

"I'm here," he answered. "I'm not crazy am I? You're really here, right?"

"Well, that's to be debate-"

"We're here," Hakkai interrupted Sanzo. "Listen and we'll explain. We still need to get Goku back. And whatever you do, don't-"

"I gotcha. I gotcha. Keep my eyes closed. I figured that bit out at least."

"Yes," Hakkai said. "You got it."

Sanzo sighed. "Now we just have to reel in Goku from the-" He stopped in mid-sentence and paused.

"Sanzo, what is it?" Gojou realized that Hakkai must have moved since his voice was closer.

"Do you hear that?"

They all stood silent, listening.

"I don't hear anything." Gojou shifted on his feet. "Just the woods and-"

"And us." Hakkai said quietly. "But not Goku."

"Fuck." was all Sanzo said.

------

I remember sky.

That was the last thing the wall had said, and after that, there was nothing. No more of Goku's scrawls or the wall's short questions. Empty. All that was left were the footprints where Goku had stood.

Hakkai rubbed his shoulder without knowing it. The wound was gone on the surface, but the pain was still there, low but steady. That would take some time to heal.

He paused and closed his eyes. They had all taken a moment to look around, and now he had to regain contact. After a few seconds, he could hear Gojou's voice.

"Where the hell is he?"

"I don't know." Hakkai went back to rubbing his shoulder. He was thankful that Gojou couldn't see him. It would only make him feel worse.

"And what the hell does that mean? I remember sky?" Gojou's voice was moving around, left to right. He's pacing again, Hakkai thought.

"Like, here's the saru, writing away," said Gojou on the left. "Then here's this fuckin' wall, writing away back. Whatever that means," said Gojou on the right. "And here we are, stuck. Can't see nuthin'. Can't leave. I can fucking hit you but I can't see you." Gojou on the left, far left, Hakkai noted.

"Now saru's gone and- OW! Fuck!" Hakkai spun to where he heard Gojou's voice, still far left.

"What happened?" He instinctively started to walk over.

There was a pause, and Hakkai stopped, listening. Had Gojou left? But then he heard him mumbling.

"What happened?" he asked again.

Another pause and Gojou swore some more. "I hit a tree."

Hakkai was glad Gojou couldn't see his smile.

"I hate this place."

"Well, remind me to fire our travel agent." Hakkai moved closer. It felt more comfortable to talk that way. .

Gojou snorted, "I can just image that going really well up there. Sorry, all you Gods, but you're all fired."

"You can't do it." Sanzo's voice filtered in. "They're all unionized."

Hakkai turned as Sanzo came back into the conversation. "What do you think happened? Where did he go?"

"He didn't go anywhere," he answered simply.

"What?" Gojou must have stood up. He voice was moving again.

"Like I said. He's here."

"But how do we know?" Hakkai asked. "I don't hear anything, and it doesn't look like he moved from the wall."

Sanzo paused. "I just....know....Like I knew you all were here even when I couldn't see you. He's here, and I'm assuming unconscious. That's why we can't hear him."

"Great, so what do we do?" Gojou asked. "Dance around naked until he wakes up?"

"Do what you like. I, for one, am glad I can't see you."

Hakkai coughed to interrupt. Those two could snap at each other for hours. It was their form of comfort, but it didn't help right now. "So, do we wait?"

Sanzo paused again, then spoke. "No. I think our shot is here, while he's asleep. I'm going to try to contact him. There's a form of meditation that involves dreams, and the sliding of the living into the dreaming."

"Is that some fancy-schmancy Sanzo shit going on?" said Gojou.

"Well," Hakkai could almost hear Sanzo smile as he spoke. "Yes. I think that is the technical term for it."

"And you are going to enter his dream through this?" Hakkai asked.

"That's the plan thus far."

They all paused, lost in thought.

"Well." Sanzo's voice was moving away. "I might be gone for awhile, depending."

"Understood," Hakkai said. "We'll be here."

"Dancing naked," Gojou added.

"Ah, so punish the gods now since you can't fire them."

Gojou snorted. "You know they like it. Why else put four hot guys together if you weren't hoping that someday, somewhere, they'll get naked."

"And dance?" Hakkai chuckled. "This whole journey is making so much more sense now. I'm sure they're disappointed though since we're one short."

"Well, then, let's even the numbers." Sanzo spoke up. "I'm off."

"Good luck."

"Kick his ass back here, Bouzu."

Sanzo paused a moment. "I will."

And then he was gone.

-----

-tbc


End file.
